Author's Note:

So this chapter took me quite a while to get right, please be kind lol

I hope you enjoy it, I know this story hasn't been the 'action' type so I don't want to drag that kind of stuff out. I've always been more about the feeling, so I focus on the POV characters as much as I can in that regard, even if they're not the ones doing the action. I hope you all enjoy this so far and feel free to give me constructive help if you got any.

Opening the door was the most nerve-wracking thing Dean could remember from his recent history. He didn't know exactly what was going to be beyond it, he didn't know how many things he was going to run into or what he'd see in the next while. Hell, he didn't even know if he was going to live through the day. Fear pushed through him, adrenaline right on its heels and he wasn't sure which one he should pay attention to. But he wanted to be ready, he wanted to leave it up to adrenaline and let it carry him through. Cas needed him to be at his best so that's what he'd do. He was ready for this. He could handle this.

Or at least that's what he told himself. Dean looked around as they moved forward, feet tapping on metal grating walkways and echoing in his ears like a bell. He couldn't see much out of the ordinary but there was a faint sound of movement further ahead. It wasn't that loud to him, but Cas was alert and staring straight ahead with a glow that lit up the way for them.

"How far you think they are?" Dean asked calmly though that was the biggest act he could've put on.

Cas shook his head. "They're still at my cage," he looked around and furrowed his brow, "I don't hear any others close by, so it's just them for now."

"Good," Sam flipped the safety off the shotgun he'd armed himself with and moved ahead. He decided to take the lead since Dean and Cas were a little too slow for him.

"You're the one who said be cautious," Dean reminded his brother with a harsh whisper. Sam's actions were getting more rash and Dean was starting to really worry. Sam had been far more aggressive than normal, he was good at talking the talk but when it came down to the wire he was too intense and wasn't paying attention. With killer clones on the loose Dean didn't want to take any chances.

"I am being cautious, now let's go." Sam all but highlighted Dean's concerns with just those words; he might as well have been throwing himself in as a sacrificial lamb. Dean could already see where that path would lead and he wasn't about to let Sam go down it. He'd have to do something about it before he wound up crying to Jet about how he couldn't stop his idiot brother from dying.

Dean grit his teeth, despite how much he didn't want to fight with Sam again, just before fighting some monsters, he didn't have a choice. He reached out and grabbed Sam's arm strong enough to hold his brother back. "Alright that's enough, you better chill out or go back because at this rate you're gonna get us all killed."

Sam reeled on him, eyes practically on fire with rage. He glared down but Dean didn't back off so they wound up staring at one another with tense eye contact. He could see that Sam wanted to say something, talk back and yell at him but all of those things would just prove Dean right. It was obvious and Sam knew it, he couldn't find a way to argue back and win. So he growled "Fine," as his response and moved to the back of the group. Dean was grateful that Sam could still think clear enough to know when a battle was worth fighting.

"Don't worry Sam, they'll pay for what they did." Cas offered a sincere smile Sam's way as the Winchester passed him by. Dean heard the exhaled sigh and knew Sam couldn't hold onto the same amount of anger with Cas' charm aimed back at him. Sure, Dean wasn't convinced that Sam was totally in the game but it was better already.

The small team moved forward as quietly as they could. Dean couldn't help but wish he could put sunglasses on Cas to calm the eye-glow, but he knew better than to complain about it. Cas was their ace, secret weapon and all that; there was no point in upsetting him. Not to mention if clones were close enough to see the glow then Cas would undoubtedly know about the incoming attack anyway.

With that in mind, Dean wondered how useful any of the rest of them would really be. Cas had been pitted against many clones and came out on top every time because it always boiled down to the same thing; nothing compared to the original. Castiel was all they really needed; though Dean imagined that the more help Cas got the less likely it was he'd be hurt. And ultimately that was Dean's goal in all that mess; if he could get Cas out with fewer scars then he'd be satisfied.

Regardless of how useless he might be, Dean didn't plan on leaving Cas there alone. They were going to handle it together and that was final. He tried to keep himself amped up but reality kept creeping back in. He'd never fought anything like this; he'd never been in a life or death battle like that. Yeah he'd been scared for his life when he first met Cas, but that seemed different somehow. When first encountering Cas there hadn't been any signs of a vicious animal or any sort of similar behaviour. The clones were more animal than human, Dean had seen what they could do and knew to be afraid of them.

Dean's heart was in his throat as they came to the stairs that descended to Cas' cage, clones and gory leftovers were right around the corner. He looked at Castiel who had lowered to a crouch and crept ahead. That was the first time in a while Dean had seen Cas act that way, it brought him back to the first time they'd met all over again. As much as he would've preferred to sit and reminisce he knew that he'd probably die if he didn't get his head in the game.

Just as he chastised himself for not paying attention he heard a low growl coming from ahead of them and watched Castiel's feathers ruffle. A shudder ran down his spine as a similar sound to a pissed off cat rumbled in Cas' throat, whether it was on purpose or just a reaction Dean wasn't sure. He could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up as the area slowly filled with the oddly human yet animalistic noises.

It was like torture, just standing completely still and listening to the thing that might take his life or the life of someone he cared about.

Cas looked back at them, his eyes lingered on Dean for a second as if he was debating something. It reminded Dean of the moment right before Cas flew off with his keys, "They know we're here, get ready."

They nodded and within seconds the sound of feet on metal stairs reached their ears, the clones were climbing and Dean felt his stomach drop. When he blinked he could see Jet's body being carried out of the basement.

He could see the paleness of Jet's skin and how close he was dying.

Dean clearly remembered the footage he'd seen of Castiel tearing into another clone, blood everywhere.

His jaw locked up, his limbs stiffened and his eyes stared in horror as another set of glowing eyes lit up the stairwell.

It was so fast, what the hell could he do?

Castiel's wings stretched out across the path, he was snarling and ready to protect his family. A shriek tore from his vocal chords and another cry overlapped. Dean barely managed to get his wits about him again before a body crashed into Castiel and sent the two tumbling to the floor. It was right in front of him, Cas was at his feet and flailing about with another that looked similar other than the wings. Each movement was inches away from Dean's legs, he could barely move.

The fight started so fast and already blood spurted across the floor and onto the railing. Castiel was preoccupied with the one, his eyes were pure light and nothing but horrific sounds came from that skirmish. Dean's gaze was fixed on it, his attention entirely on Castiel as he watched his boyfriend turn into some kind of menace. The clone was thrashing about and trying to get a good hit in but Cas was agile enough to deflect the worst of each move.

It was barely a few seconds that passed and Cas was tearing into the beast, Dean could only stare. Even Sam was hesitant; neither Winchester had ever been a part of a fight like that one. The most they ever faced was one another or Jet, and in Sam's case Jet normally went easy on him. Sam's rage was quelled in that instant moment as he watched with the same horrified surprise.

Charlie on the other hand was still functioning and before the second clone could tear into Castiel, or one of the completely still Winchesters, she shot it. The thing had barely emerged from the staircase and was immediately blown away, its body falling down the stairs with a sickening sound.

"Get your heads in gear!" She shouted and Dean barely managed to tear his mind away from Castiel to understand her.

Cas shook his head and removed himself from the mutilated corpse with shaky legs, "Everyone okay?" He asked nervously and looked at them, his eyes weren't calm but far less intense than they were seconds previously.

"Yeah," Dean stammered and would've got to reassure Cas if he could move his legs properly. He cleared his throat and tried to shake off the anxiety. "Just… a little surprised."

"You completely froze up," Charlie reiterated and knocked him on the back of his head, "This isn't a video game, guys! If you get your head ripped off you can't just reset, this is for real and those things aren't gonna stop when they see you aren't firing."

Cas looked up at Dean worriedly and he could already tell that Cas was regretting letting him come down into the basement. "It's fine," Dean said stubbornly, "I got it, won't happen again."

"Right," Sam agreed just as firmly, Dean wondered for a moment if it was a Winchester thing.

"Dee-"

"It's fine, Cas." Dean cut him off before the doubting questions could be asked, "I'm good, don't worry about me."

Cas exhaled heavily and nodded, "If you say so."

It was then that Dean noticed the way Cas' voice shook, "Are you okay?" He moved closer and though Cas hesitated at first he was allowed into Cas' personal space. "You don't sound too confident."

"I'm worried," Cas admitted and looked at them all, "I know I completely lose it when I see them, I can't… you can't depend on me to be in the right place at the right time."

Whether he saw it Cas' eyes or heard it in Cas' voice, Dean knew that he couldn't let this slip by without acknowledgement. "We're all worried, Cas." He reached over and touched his boyfriend's face, tilting Cas' head just a little bit. "The only one here with any sort of training is Charlie, we don't exactly have much of a plan and I'd venture to say that we're going up against quite a few baddies. And there's a lot of stuff I don't know about all this shit, but I do know at least one thing." He smiled and stole a quick kiss, "I know that you've never hurt us."

Cas laughed a little, a pleasant sound for Dean to hear after all the crazy. "So even if I go off the wall and terrorize my clones you'll be okay because it's not you?"

"Basically,"

"We can't ask you to control something you've never been able to," Sam added as he gave Cas' shoulder a squeeze, "Dean's right, the only thing we really need is for you to be on our side and that's it."

Cas' relief was subtle but Dean still saw the glimpses of it in Cas' face. "Thank you, I'll do my best."

"Awesome," Charlie gave him a thumb's up, "Now, do you sense any of them around or should we keep moving?"

Castiel sniffed a few times and held still as he listened to the area around them, "Nothing close, we can move on." He pulled out his map and stopped when he realized it was stained red, very difficult to read. "Uh… someone else?"

Dean took out his map and phone for a little bit of light, "Looks like there's a separated section over here, pretty sure that's where the others were on the security cameras."

"Yeah, it's one of the northern corridors," Sam had leaned over Dean's shoulder to see; judging his mood based on his tone, Dean would've said that Sam was far less agitated. One guess was that Sam felt a little humbled after freezing up like an idiot, mostly because that's how Dean was feeling.

They moved out again, Dean wasn't sure if he felt better or worse knowing that they'd managed to take care of the first set of clones. On the one hand the clones were gone, which meant that there were none to fight in that area anymore. On the other hand Dean had no idea where the next enemy was going to pop up, it was a surprise and he was starting to wonder if he even liked surprises anymore.

Cas' cage came into view, shining with red stains and a textured, gory floor. Dean had never been squeamish but he wasn't a big fan of the smell it left. He tried not to breathe too deeply but the more he thought about it the harder it was to accomplish.

"You okay?" Sam asked him with a light nudge and Dean nodded quickly.

"Just pumping myself up."

"Right."

Cas looked at the mess he'd made and his hand crept up to clutch at his stomach. "I can't believe I did this…"

"You've got some wicked reflexes," Charlie pat him on the shoulder, "Don't sweat it, okay? We'll sort that stuff out later."

Cas sighed and nodded, "Okay, you're right."

The halls were eerily quiet, there wasn't anything left to say about the scene but they still gave a moment to look at it. None of them really wanted to speak, silence was the best thing they could do that would allow Cas the ability to hear something coming. His sense of smell was alright but being covered in clone blood already tended to get in the way. Dean didn't want to think about the chill running down his spine or the knot in his stomach.

"Should we keep moving?" Charlie asked after a moment and Cas nodded.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Hold on," Sam walked around the enclosure and stopped next to the door Dean remembered from one of the videos. "The failed clones were left in here, should we open it up and take care of what's left?"

"Maybe we should leave that alone for now." Dean said but Cas went to join Sam.

"No, we should take care of it while we're here before something goes wrong later." He unlocked the door before anyone else could tell him whether or not it was a good idea. Dean held his breath as the rush of air came out, it was a little too late because the scent was rancid and it burned his nostrils.

"Oh. My. God." He exclaimed and covered his mouth and nose; Charlie and Sam were making similar disgusted noises to his own but Cas… Well Cas had to stumble away entirely; the sounds he made were far more like retching than anything else.

Before they could continue their complaining a gargling sound left the room. Sam stepped away from the door and lifted his gun; his expression still twisted with disgust though a certain intensity had crept in with the rest of it.

Dean didn't know if there were words to describe the thing that crawled to the door. It made revolting sounds as it peered past the frame, its eyes were uneven and its mouth split up the sides of its face in a joker-like smile. The thing's pupils had almost completely taken over the colour, its skin looked leathery at best and there were battle scars all over its body. As it crawled forward Dean watched the irregular movements, how half of its body moved faster than the other. It almost seemed like it'd had a stroke.

This was the single failed experiment that won the battle royale that MacLeod had started by opening the doors. Dean wasn't so sure this one was as much of a victor as they had imagined. It gargled again as if drowning in lung fluids but never quite dying. The sickness in Dean's stomach changed shape as he watched the experiment painfully crawl out of the room it'd been trapped in for so long.

Castiel turned back around, his eyes flashed a little but not enough to warrant a complete psychotic breakdown. This clone's face was contorted enough that his primal instincts didn't kick in; Cas just stared at it with troubled eyes.

"I expected something more… monstrous." Charlie looked at the others, the sound of the failed experiment the only other sound they could hear.

Cas walked over and carefully picked the thing up, "I'll… be right back, wait here for me."

"Where are you going?" Dean grabbed Cas' arm and his boyfriend turned to look at him.

"I'm going to take it outside before I put it out of its misery."

Dean let go and nodded, he imagined that Michael and Desirae would be a little more than freaked out but he didn't mention it. Cas looked like this was something he needed to do, so Dean didn't say another word about it.